290 Part IV: Using Words to Entrance
The clues to understanding people are in the language style they adopt, for
example:
✓ If someone is motivated towards, you may hear words such as attain,
gain, achieve, get, include.
✓ If someone is motivated away from, you may hear words such as avoid,
exclude, recognise problems.
How do you know that you’ve done a good job?
This question enables you to identify the source of a person’s motivation.
If people are internally focused – that is, they pay more attention to what’s
happening for themselves than for other people – you can motivate them by
using phrases such as ‘only you can decide’, ‘you may want to consider’, and
‘what do you think?’.
If they’re externally focused – that is, they need to be convinced by other
people and through gaining facts and figures – you can motivate them by
using phrases such as ‘others will notice’, ‘the feedback you’ll get’, and ‘so
and so says so’.
If you’re employing somebody in customer service, that person needs to
value external approval, instead of being internally focused. However, if you
want to give a person a project to get on with on their own, someone with
a strong external focus is likely to struggle without regular approval from
others.
Why did you choose your current work?
This question is a great one to ask when you want to know whether someone
is motivated by having options or by being told what to do. If somebody has
an options style, you’re going to hear words such as opportunity, criteria,
choice, unlimited possibilities, and variety. On the other hand, if somebody
has a strong procedures style, they’re likely to give you a step-by-step
response, the story of how they got into their current line of work. You’re
likely to hear such people talking about processes and using phrases such as
‘the right way’ and ‘tried and true’.
